Switchboard Operator in the Sky – Michael Roque

December 10, 2025

A billion ears
pressed to receivers
hoping to hear someone speak—
Who’s on the line?
A secretive whisper,
an impatient shriek—
Infinite words and tones
turning a wired mind—
into a blown fuse.

Unseen among buzzing hums,
static pops, metallic fumes,
our soft-voiced switchboard operator—
connecting, disconnecting us all
on her planet-wide panel—
in her inaccessible room.

Why does she take so many innocent jacks
pining for transfer to Perseus—
and plug them into black holes?